


Fragile

by rulanarinrush



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ingrid and Sylvain are mentioned, M/M, Other, a dash of angst, can be read as platonic or romantic, pre-release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-09 18:02:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19892032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rulanarinrush/pseuds/rulanarinrush
Summary: Something has changed between them.





	Fragile

**Author's Note:**

  * For [miyuseway](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miyuseway/gifts).



> My attempt at a new writing style. Can be considered a semi-character study for characters that haven't even been released.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Dimitri would never call Felix delicate.

He is not some porcelain doll, though he holds a grace similar to that of one. He will not break and shatter when he falls, but the cracks remain.

And they are visible, too. They are more visible than Felix likely knows. 

Felix likes to think of himself as untouchable, not in an arrogant way, but the kind that shields your heart and leaves no room for weakness. He fashions this air about himself being cold and solitary, a blade. All bark and bite.

And a part of it is true. Amongst the students of Garreg Mach Monastery, he has no rivals with the sword. His slices are clean and beautiful and scatter his enemies away to the wind. He is a perfect mix of sinew and flesh, fast and deadly.

But Dimitri sees things that others don’t, he sees the way Felix latches onto praise with his eyes, he sees the way every biting remark from his father cuts into him. Only he knows the familiar sound of Felix crying when he thinks no one is there, because he doesn’t trust anyone else with his tears. It makes Dimitri’s heart spasm and wither, knowing that his place, his trust, has been replaced by something empty and ugly.

Dimitri watches Felix push himself so hard; harder, harder, harder, until his sweat is indistinguishable from tears. 

Felix’s smiles are rare now. His smile wasn’t blinding, nothing like that, just a small upturn of the mouth that used to make Dimitri’s vision rose-pink happy.

He is not an emotional person. They both aren’t, not really. But only one knows he can lean back and fall with ease, knowing that someone will catch him.

Felix should know that he can do that too. But he doesn’t. He holds up his aura and distances himself, just enough that Dimitri knows it makes Ingrid’s heart sting, just enough that Sylvain hesitates to sling his arm around Felix like he used to.

When all four of them were children, they would race around, spar, cry on each other, give each other scrapes and bruises and hugs, and get drunk on the sound of each other’s laughter. Not anymore.

Approaching him is a game of avoiding those infamous words, _leave me alone._

 _I don’t trust you,_ is all Dimitri hears.

Faerghus is a cold place, perhaps too cold for Dimitri. But Felix would not survive those winters alone either.

Diamonds are clear and hard, but strike them just right, and they shatter into pieces.

Felix balances his life by the thread; a balancing act of what appears on the surface and what lies under. On the surface is a proud lion; get too close, and you’ll be bitten. His fangs are always sharpened, always gleaming, always prepared. Underneath that surface lies a murky ocean, dark and sorrowful. There is a boy drowning under the dark waters; the more he tries to escape, the deeper he sinks. The light does not reach those parts of the ocean, and the tears that filled it remain entirely unseen by all except for one.

And Dimitri doesn’t know what to do. He’s always been afraid of fragile things, after all.

But a proud member of Faerghus does not let go of its family. A pack of lions, a pride, cannot lose one of its own. 

Felix has laid out a maze for him to follow. Dimitri will follow it for him, no matter how endless it is.

**Author's Note:**

> All comments, criticisms, and kudos are appreciated! A special thank you to miyuseway for letting me do this.


End file.
